Once Upon a Forest
Once Upon a Forest is a 1993 animated film produced by Hanna-Barbera in association with HTV Cymru/Wales, Ltd. and released on June 18, 1993 by 20th Century Fox. Based on the Furlings characters created by Rae Lambert, it was directed by Charles Grosvenor and produced by David Kirschner (producer of An American Tail, Child's Play and Hocus Pocus). It tells the story of three forest denizens that go on an expedition to cure their friend, Michelle, who became sick from chemical fumes. The film's environmental theme divided critics at the time of its release, along with the animation and story. It was a commercial failure, grossing only US$6.6 million domestically. Plot The story opens in a forest known as Dapplewood, where "Furlings" (a term for animal children) live alongside their teacher, Cornelius (Michael Crawford). The four Furlings central to the story are Abigail (Ellen Blain), a woodmouse; Russell (Paige Gosney), a hedgehog; Edgar (Benji Gregory), a mole; and a badger named Michelle (Elisabeth Moss). One day, the Furlings go on a trip through the forest with Cornelius, where they see a road for the first time. Russell is almost run over by a careless driver, who throws away a glass bottle that shatters in the middle of the road. Cornelius orders the Furlings to forget the road altogether. The ramble ends in a boat ride. Afterward, they go back to the forest to find out that it has been destroyed with poison gas from an overturned tanker truck that blew a tire from the broken glass bottle while transporting chlorine gas, and the truck driver ran to get help. Michelle panics and runs to her home, breathing some of the gas and become severely ill. The gas inside the house has already killed both of her parents, which the mother happens to be Cornelius's sister. Abigail manages to save Michelle, and the Furlings go to Cornelius' house nearby for shelter after they found their homes deserted. There, Cornelius tells the Furlings that they need to fetch two herbs that can save Michelle's life: lungwort and eyebright. With limited time, they head off for their journey the next day. After encountering numerous dangers including a hungry barn owl, a flock of religious wrens including their preacher Phineas (Ben Vereen), and intimidating construction equipment, which the wrens call "yellow dragons", the Furlings make it to the meadow with the herbs they need. There, they meet the bully squirrel Waggs (who insulted Michelle), and Willy, a tough but sensible mouse who grows a liking to Abigail. After getting the eyebright, they discover that the lungwort is on a giant cliff making it inaccessible by foot. Russell suggests they use Cornelius' airship, the Flapper-Wing-a-Ma-Thing, to get to the lungwort, which he unknowingly brought along to be a bag for food he decides to bring. The Furlings manage to get the lungwort after a dangerous flight up the cliff, then steer their airship back for Dapplewood. They crash-land back in the forest after a storm, and bring the herbs to Michelle and Cornelius. A group of humans who come to clean up the gas' mess appear, the animals escape through the backdoor of Cornelius's house. Unfortunately, Edgar gets separated from the group, and (after losing his glasses), gets caught in an old trap. When one of the workers finds him, the animals are at first worried about their friend, but are surprised when he frees Edgar and smashes the trap before stuffing it in his trash bag, an act Cornelius never expected a human to do, making him realize that there are good humans in the world. The next day, Michelle is awakened from her coma by a teardrop from her uncle, and then sees the Flapper-Wing-a-Ma-Thing and becomes amazed on how the furlings have grown-up. The Furlings' families and many of the other inhabitants arrive as well, except for Michelle's mother and father, who were killed in the gas accident but Cornelius promised to do his best on taking care of her. The Furlings happily reunite with their families, who are relieved to see that their children are alright. Michelle asks Cornelius if anything will ever be the same again. Cornelius looks at the dead trees in the forest and says to her that if everyone works as hard to save Dapplewood as the Furlings did to save Michelle, it will be. Cast Rescue Rangers *Tress MacNeille as Chip and Gadget Hackwrench *Corey Burton as Dale and Zipper *Peter Cullen as Monterey Jack Characters of the movie *Michael Crawford - Cornelius the badger *Ellen Blain - Abigail the woodmouse *Benji Gregory - Edgar the mole *Paige Gosney - Russell the hedgehog *Elisabeth Moss - Michelle, Cornelius's niece *Ben Vereen - Phineas the wren preacher *Will Estes - Willy, Abigail's love interest *Charlie Adler - Waggs the bully squirrel *Rickey D'Shon Collins - Bosworth *Don Reed - Marshbird *Robert David Hall - Truck driver *Paul Eiding - Abigail's father *Janet Waldo - Edgar's mother *Susan Silo - Russell's mother *Angel Harper - Bosworth's mother *Benjamin Kimball Smith - Russell's brother *Haven Hartman - Russell's sister. Soundtrack The score for Once Upon a Forest was among the last that composer James Horner would write for an originally made animated film. Three songs were written for it: "Please Wake Up", "He's Gone/He's Back", and the closing credits track, "Once Upon a Time with Me". The soundtrack, released by Fox Records, has been out of print since its publisher went out of business in the mid-1990s. Track listing #"Once Upon a Time with Me" (5:56) #:Performed by Florence Warner Jones; written by Horner and Will Jennings #"The Forest" (9:11) #"Cornelius's Nature Lesson" (3:41) #"The Accident" (4:24) #"Bedside Vigil" (2:15) #"Please Wake Up" (2:36) #:Performed by Michael Crawford; written by Horner, Jennings, Michael Tavera, Kelly Ward and Mark Young #"The Journey Begins" (8:08) #"He's Back" (2:00) #:Performed by Ben Vereen and the Andrae Crouch Singers; written by A. Crouch, Sandra Crouch and Horner #"Flying" (4:49) #"Escaping from the Yellow Dragons/The Meadow" (6:36) #"Flying Home to Michelle" (6:32) #"The Children/Maybe One Day..., Maybe One Day" (4:41) #"Once Upon a Time With Me/End Credits" (5:56)